Word: droids
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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Built by HTC (makers of the Sprint Hero, the Verizon Droid Eris, etc.), the PTV features a large 3.5-in. touchscreen, built-in speakers, an adjustable stand and instant access to programming at all hours of the day. At 5.5 oz., it weighs a tad more than your standard BlackBerry or iPhone. Changing channels is as easy as swiping your finger up or down on the screen. There's also a dedicated menu button that can bring up the entire programming guide should you wish to peruse your options. (See TIME's tech buyer's guide...
...before handing the project to Andrew Stanton). There are other similarities between that futurist galactic epic and Up, which arrives in North American theaters Friday after its rapturous reception two weeks ago as the opening-night attraction at the Cannes Film Festival. Both movies are about lonely creatures - a droid left on Earth, a man whose cherished wife has died - taking a perilous trip. Both protagonists are stout and box-shaped and don't talk much. Both films, under the thrill-ride wrapping, are unabashed love stories. And though it's not yet summer, we can declare that Up, like...
...Activities like Ewok landscaping, LEGO building and droid races filled out the geek slate. Tom Jozwiak, 46, an engineer from Chicago, brought the R2-D2 he has been building for three years to race. "It's a hobby, a very time-consuming one," Jozwiak admits, in what is a frequent refrain among a culture of diehards with day jobs. The crowd was about 70% male, even more so in the droid builders group. But Nikki Miyamoto, a costume designer from L.A., brought the R2 she's been working on for two years, with brushed copper plates...
Meet the latest in Japanese robotica: a droid that cares ... for old people. A team of scientists at Riken's biomimetic-control research center in Nagoya has developed RI-MAN (for Robot Interacting with Human) to look after the elderly. Standing 5-ft. 2-in. tall, the robot can hoist 77 lbs; its 320 pressure sensors and soft silicone skin allow the robot to safely carry a human body. RI-MAN can also pinpoint where sound is coming from and "smell" eight scents--including urine, which signals "diaper change." But RI-MAN needs a brainpower boost before it's ready...
...standard cop-hero sociopath and also because he just can't stand robots, Spooner suspects everyone. Dammit, he suspects anything modern. As the U.S. Robots boss (Bruce Greenwood) says, "You would have banned the Internet simply to keep the libraries open." Spooner focuses his skepticism on a prototype droid named Sonny, the only creature in the room with the inventor when he died...